SSH -3 Ways to Use SSH on Windows to Log Into Linux Servers

4 min readNov 4, 2023

Introduction of ssh

SSH is a secure protocol used as the primary means of connecting to Linux servers remotely. It provides a text-based interface by spawning a remote shell. After connecting, all commands you type in your local terminal are sent to the remote server and executed there.

SSH stands for Secure Shell, which was invented in 1995 to replace the insecure Telnet (Telecommunication Network). It’s now the primary way for system administrators to securely log into remote Linux servers over the public Internet. Although it looks and acts the same as Telnet, all communications over the SSH protocol is encrypted to prevent packet sniffing.

If you are running a Linux or Mac computer, SSH client is installed by default. You can open up a terminal window and run the ssh command like below to connect to a remote Linux server.

ssh username@12.34.56.78

How ssh work

When you connect through SSH, you will be dropped into a shell session, which is a text-based interface where you can interact with your server. For the duration of your SSH session, any commands that you type into your local terminal are sent through an encrypted SSH tunnel and executed on your server.

The SSH connection is implemented using a client-server model. This means that for an SSH connection to be established, the remote machine must be running a piece of software called an SSH daemon. This software listens for connections on a specific network port, authenticates connection requests, and spawns the appropriate environment if the user provides the correct credentials.

The user’s computer must have an SSH client. This is a piece of software that knows how to communicate using the SSH protocol and can be given information about the remote host to connect to, the username to use, and the credentials that should be passed to authenticate. The client can also specify certain details about the connection type they would like to establish

3 Ways to Use SSH on Windows to Log Into Linux Server

Method 1: Windows 10’s Built-in SSH Client

use the OpenSSH client on Windows 10, simply open a PowerShell window or a command prompt window and run the ssh command.

For example, if I want to connect to my Ubuntu desktop in the LAN, I would run

ssh linuxsshforserver@192.168.0.101

sshforserver is the username on my Ubuntu desktop and 192.168.0.101 is the private IP address for my Ubuntu desktop. The first time you connect to a Linux computer, you will be prompted to accept the host key. Then enter your password to login. After login, you can run Linux commands to do administrative tasks.

Note that if you want to paste a password into the PowerShell window, you need to right-click the mouse and press Enter.

To log out from the Linux box, run the exit command or press Ctrl+D.

Method 2: Use SSH in Windows Subsystem for Linux

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) enables you to run native Linux command-line tools directly on Windows 10. If you are a system administrator, WSL is probably an overkill for just using SSH because it would install and run a Linux distro (without graphical user interface) on your Windows 10 desktop. WSL is created for web developers or those who need to work on open-source projects. You can use not only SSH but also other Linux command line tools (Bash, sed, awk, etc).

Open the Microsoft Store and enter WSL in the search box. Select Run Linux on Windows and install a Linux distro of your choice.

For example, I choose Ubuntu and click the Get button to install it.

Method 3: Use Putty

Putty is a well-known and the most popular SSH client on Windows before the arrival of Windows OpenSSH client and Windows Subsystem for Linux. To use SSH with Putty, you need to download the Putty program from the official website and install it.

Launch Putty from the Start menu. Then enter the IP address or hostname of the Linux box and click the Open button to connect to it.